Expert: Thurman C. Petty, Jr. - 2/19/2007

Question
Hello. Yes, you're right, Jesus was not against marriage, it stands to reason. It's also true that he had no wife. You wrote that "how could the Creator be sexually involved with one of the creatures He created." How do we know he wasn't, he was also a man, a human being. He had the same emotions as we have, he suffered, felt hungry, had to go to the toilet. What's more, I've read somewhere that it was very strange at the times if someone had no wife, but maybe it's not any argument. I'm just asking how is the Church so sure about Jesus' celibacy, do they know completely everything about his life to say so. How to convince someone who claims that Jesus did not live in celibacy, that he/she is wrong? What arguments can I use to support my words, my point of view. Saying "he was a creator so it would be strange for him to make sex" wouldn't work in my opinion, because he was also a man, and this fact is very strongly emphasized.Thanks for answering me.-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hello Thurman!
I'd like to ask you about the vows of chastity which are connected with the celibacy. As for the celibacy itself I am all for because I think that everyone who decides to be a priest or a monk should devote all his life and time to the church, Jesus Christ, worshippers etc. However I'd like to know why is it so that the Church claims that all of them have to live in celibacy because Jesus lived in the state of celibacy too. Are there any proofs in the Bible or anywhere else that it was so, that he said so himself or someone else claimed that it was true. Why do the Catholic Church claims that Jesus lived in celibacy, on what grounds? I know that he said for example:"The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage;
35: but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,
36: for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." But does it say anything about Jesus' celibacy? I know that there are some certain people like Chimo Fernandez de Castro or Uta Ranke-Heinemann (professor of theology)who also seem to claim that there are no proofs for Christs' celibacy, she wrote in her book entitled "Eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven" that "the historic Jesus opposed biases against women and evinced a positive attitude toward marriage but celibate theologians misinterpreted his message as a call to renounce marriage. Theology became the business of bachelors; sex was equated with sin."  I'm not trying to say that she was right, but it seems that the Church is sure about it. Thanks.

-----Answer-----
Dear Luke,
Thank you for your question about celibacy. It is true that Jesus never married. But that doesn’t mean He was against marriage. You’ll remember that His first miracle was performed while He was the guest at a wedding. He did not go the wedding for the purpose of trying to talk the man out of marrying. No, He came as a participating guest, celebrating the institution of Marriage.
You’ll have to note that Jesus Himself was involved in Creation:
John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:2  He was with God in the beginning.
John 1:3  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. . . .
John 1:10  He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him . . . .
John 1:14  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (see also Col. 1:13-17; Heb. 1:1-3)
Even though Jesus took upon human nature with all its intricacies, he did not choose to marry, simply because His work would be so intense, so opposed, and would end so soon—He would have hurt a wife very much by his continual travels, homelessness, spats with the Jewish leaders. It just wouldn’t have worked for Jesus to be married. And how could the Creator be sexually involved with one of the creatures He created.
But go back to the beginning. God made them male and female. He told them to multiply and fill the earth. So God invented sex, and between a husband and wife it is a normal interaction—a one-flesh-ness. There is no room here for celibacy. If either Adam or Eve were celibate, we wouldn’t even be here.
Jesus did mention that in the resurrection there would be no marriage, that we would be as the angels. But the resurrection hasn’t happened yet. So this text cannot be used as an argument for celibacy.
There is no Biblical teaching that could be rendered as against marriage, advocating celibacy. There are a variety of celibate people in the Bible: Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, and Jesus. But none of them advocated that others follow their example.
Thank you again for writing. If you have more questions, feel free to correspond directly with me at my personal e-mail address.
I invite you to visit my web site www.PettyPress.com. I’ve posted 16 of my books; 40 Bible lessons; 100 Bible question, and much, much more.
Thurman C. Petty, Jr.
Bible instructor, Allexperts.com
petty@hyperusa.com  

Answer
Dear Luke,

The Bible is a book that paints everybody just like they are. The most vaunted heros of the Bible, like David, are paraded before us with all their faults and sins and unseemly characteristics. Even the Apostle Paul appears as someone who has a temper, etc. If Jesus had had a wife, the Bible would have included that in the story.

Another point: Jesus spent all His time with His 12 disciples. He told one man who wanted to be a disciple:

Mat 8:20  Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Jesus was a homeless person. He sometimes stayed with Peter, sometimes with Lazarus and his sisters. But more often He probably bedded down in some olive grove, as portrayed in the gospels on the night He was arrested.

Jesus knew He was going to die on a cross for the sins of the whole world. Why would He drag a wife through all that misery, and then leave her widowed. And then when He rose from the dead to reunite for 40 days only to be wafted off to heaven and never see her again.

Jesus didn’t come here to marry and raise a family. Of course He was tempted sexually, just as we are tempted. But JESUS CAME TO SAVE US FROM OUR SINS(Matt. 1:21). He came to live a perfect life to show us how to live, and to teach us things that we needed to know. He came to train 12 unlearned men how to be His disciples so that they in turn could make disciples who would in time tell the whole world that He is coming again to receive them into His eternal kingdom.

In the 3 ½ years He was here, He just didn’t have time for everything—like getting married and raising a family. That type of activity would not have even found a place on His calendar.

The idea that Jesus was married is of only recent origin. The DaVinci Code by Brown has done considerable damage to those who have believed it. But the book has been debunked by historians on many grounds, and I believe he was treading on spiritually dangerous ground when he talked about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene.  

We cannot believe anything that cannot be shown from the Bible, or we will be washed into the camp of the enemy. The Bible and the Bible only must be the source of all our beliefs about Jesus and every other person or teaching in the Bible.

Thanks again for your question. Feel free to use my personal e-mail address if you like.

Sincerely,

Thurman C. Petty, Jr.
petty@hyperusa.com

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my web site: www.PettyPress.com